The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known and Osteospermum ecklonis, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Aksullo.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aabyhoj, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program was to create new Osteospermum cultivars with interesting ray floret colors and spoon-shaped ray florets.
The new cultivar originated from a cross made by the Inventor of a proprietary selection of Osteospermum ecklonis identified as code number 9524 as the female, or seed, parent and a proprietary selection of Osteospermum ecklonis identified as code number 9518, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Osteospermum was selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of this cross in a controlled environment in Aabyhoj, Denmark, in 1996.
Plants of the new Osteospermum are more compact and have more ray florets that are darker in color than plants of the female parent, the selection 9524. Compared to ray florets of plants of the male parent, the selection, 9518, ray florets of plants of the new Osteospermum have a more distinct spoon-shape and differ in color.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings at Aabyhoj, has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.